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A major aspect of the charm within the *Final Fantasy* Universes Beyond set for *Magic: The Gathering* comes from the fashion countless cards tell iconic tales. Cards like Tidus, Blitzball Star, which offers a snapshot of the hero at the very start of *Final Fantasy 10*: a renowned professional athlete whose key technique is a unique shot that pushes a defender out of the way. The abilities mirror this with subtlety. Such flavor is prevalent in the whole Final Fantasy offering, and some are not joyful stories. A number act as somber reminders of emotional events fans still mull over decades later.

"Moving narratives are a central part of the Final Fantasy franchise," wrote a principal designer involved with the collaboration. "The team established some general rules, but ultimately, it was primarily on a case-by-case basis."

Even though the Zack Fair card isn't a top-tier card, it represents one of the collection's most refined instances of flavor via rules. It skillfully captures one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most pivotal cinematic moments brilliantly, all while leveraging some of the set's key gameplay elements. And while it avoids revealing anything, those who know the saga will immediately grasp the emotional weight behind it.

How It Works: A Narrative in Play

For one mana of white (the alignment of good) in this collection, Zack Fair has a base stat line of 0/1 but comes into play with a +1/+1 counter. By spending one generic mana, you can remove from play the card to give another creature you control indestructible and move all of Zack’s bonuses, plus an artifact weapon, onto that chosen creature.

These mechanics paints a sequence FF fans are extremely know well, a moment that has been retold multiple times — in the classic *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even alternate-timeline iterations in *FF7 Remake*. Yet it hits powerfully here, conveyed completely through rules text. Zack makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Cloud, who then takes up the Buster Sword as his own.

The Story Behind the Moment

A bit of backstory, and take this as your *FF7* spoiler alert: Before the main events of the game, Zack and Cloud are left for dead after a battle with Sephiroth. Following years of experimentation, the duo get away. The entire time, Cloud is barely conscious, but Zack ensures to protect his comrade. They finally arrive at the edge outside Midgar before Zack is gunned down by forces. Presumed dead, Cloud then takes up Zack’s Buster Sword and adopts the identity of a first-class SOLDIER, which leads right into the start of *FF7*.

Reenacting the Passing of the Torch on the Battlefield

On the tabletop, the rules effectively let you recreate this entire sequence. The Buster Sword is a a powerful piece of armament in the set that costs three mana and provides the equipped creature +3/+2. Thus, with an investment of six mana, you can transform Zack into a respectable 4/6 with the Buster Sword equipped.

The Cloud Strife card also has intentional interaction with the Buster Sword, enabling you to look through your library for an artifact card. In combination, these three cards function as follows: You play Zack, and he gets the +1/+1 counter. Then you summon Cloud to fetch the Buster Sword out of your deck. Then you cast and attach it to Zack.

Because of the manner Zack’s sacrifice ability is designed, you can actually use it in the middle of battle, meaning you can “block” an assault and activate it to cancel out the attack completely. Therefore, you can do this at a key moment, transferring the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He subsequently becomes a formidable 6/4 that, whenever he does damage a player, lets you draw two cards and cast two spells without paying their mana cost. This is exactly the kind of interaction referred to when discussing “emotional resonance” — not revealing the scene, but letting the gameplay make you remember.

More Than the Main Interaction

But the flavor here is oh-so-delicious, and it goes past just these cards. The Jenova card appears in the set as a creature that, at the start of combat, places a number of +1/+1 counters on a chosen creature, which also becomes a Mutant. This in a way suggests that Zack’s initial +1/+1 token is, in a way, the SOLDIER treatment he received, which included experimentation with Jenova cells. It's a tiny connection, but one that implicitly links the entire SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter ecosystem in the expansion.

Zack’s card does not depict his demise, or Cloud’s trauma, or the stormy bluff where it concludes. It does not need to. *Magic* allows you to relive the moment yourself. You perform the ultimate play. You hand over the sword on. And for a fleeting moment, while playing a trading card game, you remember why *Final Fantasy 7* continues to be the most influential game in the saga to date.